The XJ X-Wing was a fighter introduced in the book "Vector Prime". The idea behind it was that the New Republic fighters loved the old X-Wing fighter, but at 30 + years of service it could no longer perform against newer fighters. The "XJ" was an upgraded version of the venerable fighter, that kept many of the same design aesthetics, but with updated tech.
I'm building my XJ for a group build over at Keeper of the Force. There has never been an official picture of the XJ class, but the books offer a vague description that includes a third proton torpedo launcher, and upgraded engines and intakes. I am basing my build of a 1/48 model built by Alfred Wong. This build is starting with a 1/72 Fine Molds X-Wing, some 1/72 F 16 intakes, the Cosmos Models upgrade set and some plain sheet styrene.
Cosmos Upgrade set:
I had to sand the kit sides flat for the new intakes:
Cut the wing boxes off and replaces with styrene:
Notched the intakes and detailed:
The Cosmos droid strip replacement, I added the R2 unit from the FM kit:
New proton torpedo launchers:
New Profile:
Still need to detail the wings, finish the other side and work something for the new engines. More to come.
